1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to games and animated characters and more particularly to a game having an electronic program and an animated game host character.
2. Background Art
Game shows are presently a very popular form of entertainment. The prior art includes electronic games such as that disclosed in Morrison et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,087 issued June 10, 1980 in which an electronic device indicates sequences of light and sound that players attempt to recall and duplicate. An electronic question and answer game is disclosed in Orenstein U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,554 issued Feb. 8, 1983. There have been prior art dolls, such as those disclosed in Terzian et al., U.S. Pat. 4,507,098 issued Mar. 26, 1985, U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,555 issued Aug. 28, 1984 and Herbstler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,163 issued Aug. 28, 1984 that are animated to roller skate, swim, and rise from a prone position, respectively. Genin U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,023 issued June 10, 1975 discloses a physical trailing robot instructor programmed to demonstrate calisthenic exercises while Morrison et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,425 issued June 7, 1977 discloses an animated band which dances in response to music from a phonograph. Animation of a character's face in response to audio input is disclosed in Villa U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,589 issued Dec. 11, 1979. However, there remains a need for a combination of an electronic game device interacting with an animated character to simulate a game show.